Durbi Takusheyi grave goods
Type:
Grave goods,
Jewelry
Date:
Early fourteenth century
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
Nigeria
Medium:
Gold
Description:
A group of high-status burial mounds at Durbi Takusheyi, within the Hausa Kingdoms (northern Nigeria), have been dated to the early fourteenth century and were found to contain goods from distant parts of the Islamicate world, including pieces of solid gold jewelry (likely made in Senegal or southern Mauritanian) found inside a large Mamluk brass bowl that itself would have been transported from Egypt or Syria. Trans-Saharan caravan routes that passed through the region linked Egypt and the Niger River. Along with the Empire of Mali, the Hausa were one of Africa's major trading powers, exporting gold, cloth, and salt, among other commodities.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
9
Repository and Online Resources:
• View close-ups of the Mamluk brass bowl reproduction (a copy now in the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum in Mainz).
• Read more about objects from Durbi Takusheyi, which were exhibited as part of the Caravans of Gold exhibition.
Image Credits:
René Müller, Linda Safran
